


Thicker than Blood

by ShepardCommander



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:16:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8017222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShepardCommander/pseuds/ShepardCommander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Where were you on that fateful day Commander Shepard saved us from the Reapers?". The answers were the same every year—the crew rarely changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thicker than Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Kal didn't die; what are you talking about? ;_;

It wasn't easy being Commander Persephone “Sephie” Shepard and could-be-Primarch-but-doesn't-want-to-be Garrus Vakarian's kid.

Nyreen Shepard-Vakarian straightened her back, all too aware that her mandibles were clicking nervously, that her human brother, Timothy, had slathered on the cologne too heavily again, like it was frosting and he some sort of pastry (probably in the hopes that Ashley Lawson-Alenko would _finally_ notice him). She couldn't help noticing that her quarian sister, Talsi, was fretting as she checked and re-checked the positioning of the blue and gold trimmed hood that framed her mask, making sure it was _just so_ before the lights came on and the cameras whined to life.

_Speaking of lights…_

The young turian woman squinted as one of the cameraman flitting about Diana Allers switched on something the reporter had referred to as a “Key Light” (and, really, one of these years she would follow through on her promise to research the film industry and become familiar with the terms they used) and flooded her and her siblings with light. A barked order, an apology, and the light was switched off again.

Relaxing—not that anyone could tell—Nyreen let out a breath as her gaze swept across the organized chaos unraveling around her.

The _Normandy_ 's regular crew were doing their best to stay out of Allers's way, a hapless member here or there wandering into her clutches for a pre-memorial recollection that went along the lines of, “Where were you on that fateful day Commander Shepard saved us from the Reapers?”.

The answers were the same every year—the crew rarely changed. Jeff “Joker” Moreau was still the pilot, Samantha Traynor was still the Comm Specialist, and Steve Cortez still maintained the armory. Dr. Chloe Michel hadn't always been aboard the _Normandy_ , but she had as long as Nyreen had lived on the ship and therefore always been a part of this yearly ritual, having replaced her predecessor Dr. Karin Chakwas shortly after the Reapers' fall.

Why Allers bothered to ask them at all anymore to repeat their tales was beyond Nyreen; their roles had been recorded in the history books, honored amongst the star systems with various awards and statues and titles. Still, she asked and they answered if they were unfortunate enough to be caught in her web (and they always eventually were).

“When are Spectre Kaidan and his wife arriving?”

“'His wife'? You mean 'Miranda Lawson'?”

“'Miranda Lawson- _Alenko_ '. And of course I mean her! Who else would it be?”

“She would pick you up with her biotics and toss you if she had heard you refer to her as 'wife' instead of by her _actual_ name. She's the one responsible for bringing Commander Shepard back from the dead, you know. Without her, we wouldn't be standing here today.”

“...Got a crush on her, do we?”

“N-no!”

Nyreen chuffed softly to herself, amused at the gossip that slipped past. It was true; her aunt _would_ pick up and toss that poor cameraman if she had heard herself referred to as just “wife”.

Blue eyes keen, hearing sharp, she listened in to the activity around her, ignoring as best she could Timothy's pungent smell and Talsi's fussing.

“—I'm afraid to go to the starboard cargo hold. That's where the mercenary guy is—”

“—Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy and her husband Kal—”

“—Headmaster Jack will be arriving shortly with her son—”

“—heard Dr. T'Soni is back from her tour with the Prothean—”

“—but Justicar Samara is with him. He's not going to straight-up murder you in front of a _Justicar_. Probably. Hopefully? We need that equipment—”

“—isn't her kid named 'Jack' too? Gotta be confusing to talk to them. Is it true Spectre Vega is—”

“—no, that can't be right; I thought he was with that thief—”

“—they're married now, you know. Had a couple kids. Wonder if he's sad knowing he's the last of his kind, even with three daughters—”

“—I thought the thief was with the salarian Spectre—”

“—Urdnot Wrex will be joining at the next Relay—”

“—anyone got tabs on Jacob? Jacob Taylor? Yes? No? I need an answer, people!—”

“—Urdnot Grunt is still on Tuchanka?—”

Nyreen couldn't help but roll her eyes at the mention of her big brother, Grunt. Her parents had laughed when they'd received his comm—he'd missed the shuttle off the planet because he'd been out drinking the night before and gotten drunk off his ass—but she had been horrified at his lack of protocol. Who went out the night before a memorial service and partied? Her brother, that was who.

There was a tug at the cusp of her shirt sleeve and she blinked, peering down into the wide, panicked eyes of the newest addition to the multi-species family, an asari named Fayra. A wave of pity for her youngest sibling washed over Nyreen; after thirteen years of this madness—of interviews, of looking pretty for the camera, of being the face of the future, the hope of things to come for an entire damned galaxy, of being an _idea_ rather than a _person_ —she had grown used to it. Mostly.

Luckily, it wasn't her they would pounce on today. No, that honor was reserved for her older brothers, Grunt and Timothy. At least, it would have been if Grunt had been there. It would all fall on Timothy, today. Perhaps it was all for the best he had drenched himself in fragrances.

It was a shame that Grunt wasn't there, really. He had been part of the war, had fought alongside their mother, and Timothy…

Nyreen watched her human brother out of the corner of her right eye.

They had both been born before the Reaper War, but he was the only one between the two of them that remembered it, though just barely. Talsi's mother had been injured and died birthing her near the conclusion of the galaxy-wide conflict while Timothy had been two and Nyreen one. From what she understood, Timothy had witnessed his mother's and father's deaths. It wasn't something they talked about much.

Nyreen couldn't remember her birth parents. Just something about evacuating Palaven and an explosion and an inky blackness splotched with red and orange and yellow. Fayra, on the other hand, had been abandoned at birth two years ago; the result of a union between two asari that had been afraid to bear the stigma that came from a pureblooded child.

Each and every one of them had suffered, some way or another, Nyreen supposed.

But then the lights came on again—albeit, gentler—and Diana was taking her place and the countdown had begun. So Nyreen smiled and played her part of the happy child of Commander Persephone “Sephie” Shepard and could-be-Primarch-but-doesn't-want-to-be Garrus Vakarian. It was an easy part to play, because she really was the happy child of Commander Persephone “Sephie” Shepard and could-be-Primarch-but-doesn't-want-to-be Garrus Vakarian.

“Today, fifteen years ago—”


End file.
